Year | Homicides

Carol Mills, widow of country music singer Wayne Mills, holds a memorial service booklet of her husband while remembering him on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013, in Nashville. / Mark Zaleski / File / The Tennessean

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Police reported 43 criminal homicides in Nashville in 2013 — the lowest level in the city in at least 50 years.

Among last year’s victims were Nashville country singer Wayne Mills, 44, who was fatally shot in a downtown bar in November; 50-year-old Darrell Wright, who was killed in August during an armed robbery at a North Nashville convenience store, where he had gone to visit the owner, his friend; a 17-month-old girl named Elois Costanza, who police say suffered severe head trauma at the hands of her mother’s boyfriend; and 52-year-old Ray Alexander, who perished during an arson fire that his wife, son and three grandchildren were able to escape.

In each of those deaths, police have identified suspects who are awaiting trial.

The 2013 total represents a decrease from 2012’s 62 reported homicides. The total includes two victims killed in previous years but whose remains went undiscovered until last year, and one victim shot in 1987 who succumbed to his injuries in 2013.

The drop in homicide levels accompanies an overall decrease in the number of major crime incidents. Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson said he expects the overall count of major crimes to have dropped six percent — by about 2,000 incidents — in 2013, when statistics are finalized in coming weeks.

'One murder (is) too many'

Don Aaron, spokesman for Metro Police, said the mayor’s commitment to keeping the department fully staffed played an important factor in reducing homicides.

“A fully staffed police department allows for more officers on the street to deter crime and interdict less serious offenses before they potentially become larger, more violent issues,” he said.

He said partnerships with neighborhood watches, community and business groups and clergy have also helped increase public safety.

The city’s previous lowest homicide count was 45, recorded in 1963 — the year Metro government came into existence, when Nashville had a population of about 150,000. The city now has nearly 650,000 residents.

“While last year’s decrease in the criminal homicide total is significant, we should all consider even one murder to be too many,” said Anderson, who credited the administration of Mayor Karl Dean, the Metro Council and the entire community for the low number.